There's no denying Jalen Williams ran into an obscene amount of issues in the health department last season. From his extended recovery from offseason wrist surgery to numerous hamstring strains, the OKC Thunder star played just 33 games in 2025-26, with some, including himself, believing his lack of availability cost the club another trip to the NBA Finals.
Now, heading into the upcoming campaign, labels such as "injury prone" and "high-risk player" have started to pop up in regard to the forward.
This summer, it appears Williams has been hard at work trying to shed such labels once and for all, and a recent social media post further proves this.
Thunder star Jalen Williams getting his body right for comeback season
In an Instagram story by Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's trainer, J-Dub's seemingly improved physique was the center of discussion. Images showed before-and-after shots of Williams' back half of his body, with captions reading: "Significant changes created over the last [three] weeks. A decompressed spine gives the rest of the body more freedom to do what it needs to do."
In the subsequent story post, he would share an image of Williams in a squatting position, accompanied by the explanation that if his hips and pelvis, in particular, are working properly, it leads to "the muscles in the leg to function as intended."
This latter part is what truly stands out from the post, as the Thunder star dealt with nagging lower-body ailments throughout last season and during the playoffs. As a result, he played just three fully healthy postseason games and two in which he either left early or was completely hobbled due to his hamstring complications.
Through social media, Thunder fans already know that Williams has been putting in the work to attempt a comeback season for the ages in 2026-27. Fortunately, he's not only working on his in-game craft but also on his personal physique and bodily functions.
Too early to brand Thunder star as 'injury prone'
Yes, Jalen Williams was severely limited last season due to injuries, but that doesn't warrant labeling him injury-prone.
Throughout his Thunder tenure, J-Dub has played in north of 70 games half of the time and 69 during their title-winning 2024-25 campaign.
So far, there has only been one season where injuries have proven to be an issue for the 25-year-old, and, even though things like hamstring strains can certainly linger, the reasoning behind his personal issues doesn't seem long-lasting but, rather, the result of rushing himself back to action.
Needless to say, it's hard to go from relative dormancy as a result of offseason surgery to being a full go for in-season action in only a matter of four months.
On top of this, considering OKC's desire to run it back as NBA Champions, Williams was mightily eager to make himself as available as he could for his team, jumping at the first opportunity he had to return to action rather than playing it safe and giving himself as much time as possible to fully recover for the playoffs.
In the end, trying to tough things out, especially during Game 6 of the Western Conference Finals, ultimately held him back even further.
Hopefully, a full offseason of rest and a new training regimen like the one he's following with SGA's trainer is all he needs to move on from these health woes.
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